Obesity and covid-19

OBESITY

AND COVID-19

What is the link?

COVID-19 and its effects have scared us all, health professionals and public alike. We’re still learning about the virus, but one fact has been all over the news in the past couple of months.

Obese people (people with a BMI over 30) are more at risk of complications. Why is this? Most of people with BMIs close to or greater than 30 seem perfectly healthy individuals. Should they be worried?

In order to answer this question, we need to look at the immune system:

When we catch a virus our body’s defence system is triggered and inflammation occurs. This is due to our all-purpose innate immune response, which serves as the first wave against foreign invaders.

Blood flow increases to the infected area causing redness and swelling. When your nose blocks and becomes red when you catch a cold, that’s inflammation.

This reaction is caused by white blood cells called macrophages and the proteins they produce called cytokines.

It’s the cytokines which trigger inflammation. Usually this inflammation is a simply a sign that our body is releasing the hormones and proteins which activate our white blood cells to kick-start the recovery process and ultimately defeat the infection.

No inflammation means no defence… and that’s bad.

So far so good; so why is obesity a problem?

Well, it turns out that white blood cells aren’t the only type of cell that have the ability to produce those inflammationinducing cytokines. Fat cells (adipocytes) can also do this. Scientists have learned that fat is an active endocrine organ, one that can secrete a whole host of proteins and chemicals, including inflammatory cytokines.

When your body keeps adding adipose tissue (fat), cytokines are released by your fat cells, triggering inflammation. Researchers even characterised obesity as ‘…a state of low-grade, chronic inflammation".

This means that an obese body has its immune system permanently switched on and is therefore in a constant state of inflammation.

Over time this can lead to the development of both minor and major illness and conditions, such as heart disease and diabetes.

How does this relate to COVID-19?

Back in 2009 the H1N1 Swine Flu was at its most virulent. Doctors in Spain noticed that overweight and obese patients were being admitted to intensive care units in disproportionate numbers and took longer to recover than non-obese or overweight individuals. Their increased risk was attributed to the excess number of proinflammatory cytokines in their bodies.

Researchers in Canada then analysed the flu records for the previous 12 years and found that people who were obese were statistically more likely to be admitted to hospital for respiratory diseases than those whose BMI was in the normal range. They concluded that obese people were an “at risk” population during flu seasons due to their compromised immune response.

As we go into the winter and the risk of a second wave of coronavirus, if you have a BMI over 30 it makes sense to try to bring it down and minimise your risk. Talk to your GP.

Why try Fairy Herb Tea?

Fairy herb’ may sound like a mythical plant grown by wizards and warlocks, but it’s actually another name for a plant called jiaogulan. Past research has shown that extracts from jiaogulan could help with weight loss 4,5,6.

One study6 was a randomized, doubleblind, placebo-controlled human trial and involved 74 men and women taking a jiaogulan extract over a 12 week period.

At the end of the trial, those using the jiaogulan extracts were found to have significantly (compared to the placebo group) decreased their total abdominal fat area, losing on average nearly 21cm2 of fat from around their bellies (the placebo group lost less than 3cm2). Now new research1 has helped identify ten different compounds with potential weight loss properties in tea made from the herb. The plant makes a tea with a delicious bittersweet taste and could be a simple addition to your diet, if you’re looking to lose a few pounds.

Where to get Fairy Herb Tea Herbal tea experts, Natur Boutique, have launched one of the first jiaogulan teas to be available in the UK. Natur Boutique’s drink uses just one pure ingredient and has no additives or flavourings, which gives it an added purity of flavour.

For more details or to buy visit www.naturboutique.co.uk, Amazon or ask at your local health store.

References

PLEASE NOTE: DO NOT use if pregnant, breast feeding or suffering from a medical condition (including diabetes) or are on medication. Ask a doctor if in any doubt over the suitability of jiaogulan for your diet or if you are about to undergo surgery. Stop use immediately and consult a doctor if adverse reactions occur.

Molecules. 2020 Aug 15;25(16):E3737. Ten New Dammarane-Type Saponins with Hypolipidemia Activity from a Functional Herbal Tea- Gynostemma pentaphyllum Maojing Yin 1 2, Jingjing Zhang 1 2, Lizhi Wang 3, Fangyi Li 1 2, Zhenfa Li 1 2, Wei Xiang 1 2, Songtao Bie 1 2, Chunhua Wang 1 2, Zheng Li 1 2

PLoS One. 2013 Nov 1;8(11):e78731. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0078731. eCollection 2013.Metabonomics study of the therapeutic mechanism of Gynostemma pentaphyllum and atorvastatin for hyperlipidemia in rats. Wang M1, Wang F, Wang Y, Ma X, Zhao M, Zhao C. 3.

4. Biotechnol Lett. 2012 Sep;34(9):1607-16. Heat-processed Gynostemma pentaphyllum extract improves obesity in ob/ob mice by activating AMP-activated protein kinase. Gauhar R1, Hwang SL, Jeong SS, Kim JE, Song H, Park DC, Song KS, Kim TY, Oh WK, Huh TL.

Obesity (Silver Spring). 2014 Jan;22(1):63-71. Antiobesity effect of Gynostemma pentaphyllum extract (actiponin): a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Park SH1, Huh TL, Kim SY, Oh MR, Tirupathi Pichiah PB, Chae SW, Cha YS.

An American Marriage

In a year that seems to be construction upon equal parts devastation and reflection, Tayari Jone’s 2018 novel exists as an outlet for the varied emotions we all have in response to this year’s outcry against racial prejudice and its consequences.

In a nutshell, Jones swipes a banal story of a wrongly convicted African American man and partners it with a narrative of the familial devastation the injustice causes. Aside from the incredible writing of the author,

An American Marriage presents itself as an opportunity for us all to respond to the crucial issues that are still very present in our society today.

Central characters Roy and Celestial are married only 2 years when Roy is trailed and incarcerated for the rape of a woman he did not commit.

Though Jones novel makes a statement about both the discrimination of the black man and unlawfulness of the criminal justice system in

America, its central message is much more than that.

In the novel’s 306 pages the reader is transported through the lives of the characters, allowing you to be fully submerged into what their core existence is. Each chapter alternates between husband and wife, developing a story that is as much rooted in the product of modern American society as it is the characters themselves.

Essentially, you learn that though Roy and Celestial are both college educated, middle class with a good strong family, they cannot escape the glass ceiling placed upon their race.

As we dive further into the character’s personal and interwinding histories, Jones’ ensures that the story in which she is portraying is, and in this order:

1.Marriage 2.Race

It is important to order these key issues this way. For too long non-white characters/novels have been explained away as simply a story of race. Jones’ novel is openly challenging this norm. From Roy/Celestial, to their friend Andre and both their families you see first-hand that these characters are first and foremost human, even before any issues of race is presented to the reader.

For me, this makes An American Marriage one of my most important reads of 2020 as it teaches this fundamental concept that being discussed during the Black Lives Matter movement. If you do anything today, read this work of Jones and allow yourself to be a part of a wider issue affecting us all.

Buy one get five free

Support the efforts of one of Madagascar’s leading conservation charities with their innovative mask exchange scheme to help supply face masks to the World’s poorest

With everyone from Aldi to Adidas offering face masks for sale, there are a plenty of options available, but an innovative UK charity, SEED Madagascar, have an unmissable deal – buy one, get five free.

SEED Madagascar are an environmental and humanitarian charity working to help both the people and animals of the African island. Their projects range from school and toilet building to improving primate habitats and protecting turtle nesting sites. Coronavirus is now causing additional challenges. Madagascar is the poorest country in the world, with almost 80% of the population living on less than $1.90 per day. Whilst coronavirus is impacting us all massively, on the island there are few health services, many people’s immune systems are already compromised, mortality rates are among the worst in the world and communication systems, to tell people about the virus and how to avoid it, are poor. It is predicted as much as 10% of the population may die from the virus.

Face masks on the island are therefore vitally important to help prevent the spread of CV and are relatively cheap to produce. Thus SEED Madagascar have come up with an innovative way to help fund their production and distribution to some of the most vulnerable, they are selling face masks, produced in the UK, for £5 (with a new design launched featuring one of People can also help by volunteering to create face masks for sale in the UK – visit here for details. www. madagascar. enthuse.com

Madagascar’s most famous inhabitants, the ringed lemur). The funds from the masks’ sales then goes towards commissioning 5 masks to be made by skilled community members in Madagascar. One pound covers the cost of materials, labour at 2.5x the minimum wage, and distribution of a single mask.

“We can’t over estimate how vitally important helping those in Madagascar with the spread of CV is. It’s been difficult controlling the virus in rich developed countries, so it’s terrifying to think about what the final toll might be in poor developing countries.” – Mark Jacobs, SEED Madagascar Director

Children at a Madagascar school, which was helped to be built by SEED Madagascar